A Recipe for Love
by end-of-thinking-capacity
Summary: Sakura fell in love with Sasuke the very first time she read his name. Sakura made it her routine to tell Sasuke how much she loves him. However, Sasuke, with his desire to surpass his brother in the world of cooking, has turned away from the prospect of love or did he? Who is this girl that is said to be Sasuke's inspiration? AU. SASUSAKU and with OCs


Title: A Recipe for Love**  
**Rating: T**  
**Pairing/s: SasukexSakura ; ItachixOC ; NejixOC

Summary: Sakura fell in love with Sasuke the very first time she read his name. Now that they are 18 years old, Sakura is an aspiring doctor who made it her routine to tell Sasuke how much she loves him. However, Sasuke, with his desire to surpass his brother in the world of cooking, has turned away from the prospect of love or did he? Who is this girl that is said to be Sasuke's inspiration? This is an AU.

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_Prologue_

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"Oh my ladies and gentlemen, is it just me or is it really getting hot in here?! I can feel the excitement building up, how about you guys?!"

The loud cheers of the audience shook the entire stadium. On the left, front side of the stage is the multi-color haired host who is widely grinning. He does a 360 degrees turn and suddenly jumps really high.

The four teams are moving with precise and calculated actions, leaving no mistakes in their wake. They all look like they are dancing in a well-choreographed presentation with the sound of knives and clanging pans and utensils as their music.

"My dearest, now we only have," he twists his upper body and points his rainbow-colored cane to the huge clock, "25 minutes left before the judging time!"

The audience goes wild and let out louder cheers than before. The names of the different teams are being yelled but there are two names that are easily distinguished amidst the yells.

"Itachi-kun!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

Both groups of fans hold banners and pom-poms and are cheering on the top of their lungs.

Itachi places the roasting pan inside the oven and sets the timer. He wipes his hands before proceeding to make the Sweet Potato Eggplant Gravy. As Itachi prepares the ingredients, he looks up and makes eye contact with his black haired muse. He smirks at her before turning his attention to his work.

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Rinko chuckles as Itachi smirks at her. She watches as Itachi melts the butter into the pan. A soft smile graces her lips but soon frowns when her eyes lay on Sasuke.

'Good luck, Sasuke.' She thinks, 'Your performance today will determine whether you have chosen to stay behind your brother's shadow or follow what your heart really wants."

"Hey Rinko." Her companion calls out. She glances at Ino who seems to look sad in her opinion.

"Do you…do you think Forehead will come?" the blonde asks, her hands fidgeting the hem her top.

Rinko hesitates and bites her lower lip. After a moment, she answers, "I don't know I-chan. I don't know."

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Sasuke wipes his forehead with his sleeves. He is almost finished with the Beef Wellington and all he needs now is to prepare the garnish. He looked up and looked at his brother's station. He saw Itachi moving with ease, his face does not show any signs of nervousness. As ever, his brother looks calm. He looked over the judges' table and saw his father looking intently at Itachi. Sasuke grits his teeth as he identified the proud acknowledgement he saw in his father's eyes for Itachi.

'Of course, it's always Itachi isn't it?' Sasuke thought bitterly and feels a pang in his chest.

"_Sasuke-kun why are you stressing it out? It's simple really. You and Itachi-san are brothers but at the same time, different." Sakura said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world._

_Sasuke frowned at what she said. He glanced at the rosette haired beside him who is busy munching on her pink macaroon._

"_What?" He snapped in irritation, "Of course we're different. He is the better one and I am always second! It's always Itachi this and Itachi that, and what do I get? Sasuke, is this all you can do? You are years away from even being half like your brother!" Sasuke snidely finished._

_Sasuke smirked acidly at Sakura's dumbfounded expression. For a moment, he thought that Sakura lost the ability to talk and he turned away._

"_Sasuke-kun," Sasuke turned his head in surprise at the gentleness of Sakura's tone. What he saw shocked him. Given Sakura's personality, he thought that the girl would whine about him being so stingy. However, the look on Sakura's face stunned him. Sakura's eyes held gentleness and understanding. It also overflows with love and affection._

"_You really don't get it do you?" Sakura asked. A gentle smile showed on her face._

"_Get wh-" Sasuke almost fell on his back when Sakura suddenly swung her legs and folded it beneath her in an Indian sitting style._

"_What are you doing?" Sasuke asked as he watched confounded, as Sakura poke around the plate of the tasty macarons. Sakura picked an Espresso flavored macaron and a Dark Chocolate flavored macaron. Sakura raised the two macarons and looked at him with a wide grin on her face._

"_What am I holding, Sasuke-kun?" She asked. Sasuke stared at her as if she has grown another head._

"_These are macarons, right?" Sasuke snorted as if to say, 'No shit sherlock'._

"_Now what do you notice?" Sakura asked again._

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked back at the playing children, "What do you mean what do I notice? Those are macarons like you said."_

_Sakura sighed and shook her head as her patience is starting to diminish._

"_No Sasuke-kun. Look closely. They are not the same Sasuke-kun. Just by their fillings, they're already not the same."_

_Sakura saw Sasuke's eyebrows twitch and racked her brain for a better explanation._

"_Ah!" Sasuke was once more startled at Sakura's sudden exclamation and looked at the grinning girl._

"_Let's put it this way Sasuke-kun," Sakura held the Espresso flavored macaron closer to him, "say this is you and this," she waved the Dark Chocolate flavored macaron, "is Itachi-san." Sasuke shook his head in exasperation._

"_Like the Dark Chocolate, Itachi-san is constantly changing. As you know, there are a lot of types of dark chocolates but they always have this bitter taste. It's like saying that Itachi-san is very versatile and does exemplary at any field of cooking. Throw him anything and he'll always do his best and succeed it."_

_Sasuke almost threw the macaron he was eating at Sakura. He was annoyed. This girl dared to praise his brother right in front of him? Annoying._

"_On the other hand, you Sasuke-kun, are like the Espresso. One of the trademarks of an espresso is the change of taste with each sip you take. But even if the taste changes, the outcome is always the same; the last sip always makes the lasting impression. The after taste of an espresso depends on whether the espresso was well-made or not, right?" Sakura continued._

_Sasuke snorted again. Of course he knew how troublesome it is to make an espresso. The after taste really determines whether you have done a good job or you failed. If you do a good job, the after taste will be delightful but if you did a good job, you would wish that you haven't tried it at all. With this in mind, Sasuke frowned and scowled at Sakura._

"_So you're saying that I suck?" Sasuke growled. He was more than ready to strangle Sakura when she laughed at his question._

"_No Sasuke-kun. It means that you are at your best if you focus on one thing." Sasuke frowned and Sakura immediately added, "I'm not saying that you are not good with the other fields of cooking, but you really are at your prime if you learn how to focus on one field. Just like in making an espresso, you have to be very careful and exact if you want to be consistent with its taste whenever you make it because if not, it'll end up tasting bad."_

_Sakura released her breath in relief as she watch the understanding dawn at Sasuke's eyes. She smiled and turned her attention back at the kids._

"_And pray tell, oh great one, what field is that?" Sasuke inquired._

"_Why Sasuke-kun, baking of course!" Sakura happily answered._

A loud crash and series of yells brought him back to reality. He looks up and sees that everyone is looking at their station. Itachi seems frozen and even his father looks stunned. Sasuke feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks at its owner and sees that Naruto seems to be looking pale.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asks. He sees Naruto hesitate before stepping aside and points behind him. Sasuke followed Naruto's direction and what he saw made his blood run cold.

"Sasuke-kun…what do we do?" Setsu asks, visibly shaking. Beside Setsu's feet is what used to be their Devil's Food Cake.

'I don't know.' Sasuke thinks.

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Hi reader! Thank you for your time and for reading this chapter of my story :) I wasn't really sure how to start this and I opted for taking a scene from one of the chapters I plan to write.

Please tell me what you think. Suggestions and informative criticisms are welcome!

Thank you,

ETC-chan


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